The 66th edition of Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto ends tonight, Sunday, July 9, 2023, with a sold-out crowd and 2,500 spectators for the traditional Final Concert at Piazza Duomo entrusted to the National Orchestra of Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano.
The public success of the final event is the milestone of an edition characterized from wide participation that is confirmed by the numbers.
The 66th edition of Festival dei Due Mondi comes down the curtain with more than 26,000 tickets issued and about 675,000 euros in box office. Of the 58 titles on the bill for 203 performances, more than two-thirds sold out , and the midweek shows were also a great success: Max Cooper on Wednesday, and Alessandro Baricco, staged on Thursday with Piazza Duomo packed from 2,500 spectators, or Cameron Carpenter's concert at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi. Also sold out were the 110 sessions of Le Bal de Paris, which replicated last year's success.
From Teatro Nuovo to Caio Melisso, from San Simone to Sant'Agata, the Festival opened the doors of 23 venues hosting performances of Dance, Music, Theater, Opera and Art with an average occupancy rate of more than 90 percent of available seats and an average of more than 5 performances per day for 17 days of programming.
A total of 140,500 pedestrians used the alternative mobility service from June 23 to July 9, a sign of a lively participation in the life of the city that not only enlivened the theaters during the Festival but also the streets, squares, businesses and accommodations of Spoleto with 75,000 visitors.
The 66th edition hosted more than 700 artists from 32 companies (15 foreign and 17 Italian) and employed a staff of 245 people, including hired and contracted staff, technicians and stage personnel as well as to 140 technicians following the productions of the shows.
The calendar of side projects presented 15 among round tables, conferences and in-depth talks to scientific and popular character, promoted by the Festival or the Partners, to attended by more than 80 speakers and guests, and 14 among exhibitions, installations and open studios with artists (among them those of Lonnie Holley, Silvia Costa, Mary Manning).
Great success was enjoyed by The Dream Workshop. Symbology and the art of theatrical costume conceived by costume historian Fabiana Giacomotti and inspired byopera Pélleaset Mélisande. The Foyer of the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti hosted a comparative exhibition of costumes from several major productions of Claude Debussy's famous opera , and the 16 theatrical tailoring workshops open to the public at the Chiostro di San Nicolò were always sold out.
99 free appointments made from corollary to the programming. Also particularly popular were the morning meetings with artists hosted this year in the exclusive Festival Garden that became a meeting place for audience and artists to breakfast or for an evening drink.
Press coverage figures are once again significant with over 100 accredited journalists, over to 35 video operators and 20 operators from national radio stations. The interest in the Festival is reflected in the copious review that records 50 passages on national television networks, 23 radio passages, 37 interviews with artists in national and international newspapers and periodicals for a total of over 800 articles and reviews in the print media and 2,515 on the web. Rai Radio 1 broadcast live from Spoleto on its program Zapping for two consecutive days, Rai News covered all the weekends of the Festival with reports for the national news, and the editorial staff of Rai 5 was present to Spoleto for the entire festival making a long documentary that will be aired on August 3, 2023 along with video footage of Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar's show Into the Hairy.
Also from are report the digital participation numbers due to the launch of the new official website that offers a more direct and efficient user experience, complete availability of information regarding arts programming, and an improved browsing experience. More than 270,000 (in the period April 5-July 9) users visited the website and 580,000 page views. Google referral data mark a total of 80,000 contact conversions from the search engine to the website.
On the social media side, the Festival recorded over 57,000 visits, 3,000 new followers and 430,000 interactions (comments, likes, shares) on FB and 20,000 visits, 3,000 new followers and 13,000 interactions on IG.
The mail marketing campaigns made it possible to reach more than 2.5 million profiled contacts, of which 70% were Italian and 30% foreign. The promotion of the Festival also took place thanks to the planning of modular distribution campaigns (communication materials) in large cities and in the Umbria-Marchigiano and central Italian territory. Particular attention was paid to the layout and street furniture of Spoleto.
Sustainability for the Foundation Festival dei Due Mondi means continually rethinking its processes and modes of behavior to bring them in line with the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda and raising awareness among viewers and the public about reducing environmental impact.
ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) themes were well present in the programming of Spoleto66, to starting from the meeting with scientist Stefano Mancuso on plant life to the Pianeta Rendenta project of sustainable housing of an urban space; from the theatrical tailoring workshops to those of carpentry that used recycled materials; from the meeting How to Fabricate Sustainable Futures. Tales from the Territory to the events Culture Breaks Bars and Feminist Choreography held in collaboration with Rai Per la Sostenibilità-ESG and Rai Umbria.
The festival involved 56 young people from the area's secondary schools, thanks to the Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO). More than 264 young students from the area's elementary school participated in the 14th edition of the project The festival is us, which saw 7 classes awarded prizes at the Concert of the Italian Army Band on the evening of July 4 at the Teatro Romano.
The Festival dei Due Mondi is promoted from Ministry of Culture, Umbria Region and Comune di Spoleto, with the Patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The Event is realized with the support of Fondazione Carla Fendi (Main Partner), with Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Spoleto and Banco Desio and with the contribution of the Umbria Chamber of Commerce. Partners and sponsors are Intesa Sanpaolo, Monini, Italmatch Chemicals, Meccanotecnica Umbra, SUSA Trasporti, Fabiana Filippi, Tomasini Francia Rolex and EMU. Main Media Partner is RAI and Media Partners are La Repubblica, Il Messaggero and Urban Vision. Also present are Connesi (Technological Partner), APA Roma (Advertising Partner), Trenitalia (Official Carrier) and Fercam (Sustanability Partner), as well as to several technical sponsors.